Today, January 8, 2013, at twelve noon eastern standard time (12pm EST), the United States Mint will start taking orders for their first release of the 2013 numismatic production run. This year is starting off with a bang with the 2013 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set.
Set Details
Each set comes with the latest releases of the America the Beautiful Quarters Program and contains five coins all struck in a 90% silver and 10% copper composition. The featured sites on each separate coin contain depictions of the:
- White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire
- Perry’s Victory International Peace Memorial in Ohio
- Great Basin National Park in Nevada
- Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Maryland
- Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota
These designs were announced by the United States Mint last month and collectors are looking forward to the striking detail and beautiful scenery on each coin. The U.S. Mint is certainly starting off the year with an improvement over last year’s first release.
Get First Crack at These New Quarters
This set gives collectors a great opportunity to purchase advance examples of the newly crafted quarters which won’t go into numismatic bag and roll circulation until January 28, 2013, when the White Mountain National Forest Quarter is released. After that initial rollout date, the rest of the coins will be released at staggered intervals on their own, or inside of other annual sets or numismatic products throughout 2013.
This first set of the New Year is priced at $41.95 per set, the same exact price which has been in effect for the entire duration of the 2012 offering. Household or product limits have not been stated so snatching up a few of these to see how the resale value goes up later in the year might be a smart investment.
**New Year Means New Design, New Packaging **
The 2013 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set looks like it has a complete redesign from the images available, especially on the packaging. The box has images of each of the five states represented in the set imprinted on the side while the opposite side depicts a larger image from a single site. True collectors will recognize this as the third generation of evolution regarding the packaging since the first America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set was released in 2010.
In 2010, the America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set box featured a depiction of a flag with red inserts while the 2011 and 2012 boxes were simplistically black with white lettering and black colored inserts. This move away from the plain packaging could indicate a move towards more intricacy in design, a trend that should carry over into the coins themselves throughout the year.
One thing is for sure, the packaging of the 2012 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set makes it all that much more collectible.
So, will you be buying this set and if so, why? Because of the coins’ collectability? Because it’s the first numismatic release of 2012? Or maybe because of the new box? Let us know below!